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The Execution of Noel Aguilar

There are videos showing shootings that cause my mouth to fall open. They make me sad. Some have brought me to tears. Some have caused me to feel helpless. (Oh God! If I only had the power to resurrect the dead.)

There are no words to describe what I felt when watching the video of the killing of Noel Aguilar. The closest I can come to describing my feelings is when seeing photos of Nazi Germany officers nonchalantly shooting Jewish men, point blank. That was before my time. It was in another country. It was during war.

Noel was 23-years old. What happened to Noel is during my life-time. It happened in my country. There is a war between truth and lies. Certainly, if the truth is told, then just maybe citizens could sigh in relief that justice will be served. But, when there are lies to cover up murder, what can citizens do?

The ACLU of Southern California calls the video “chilling.”

It’s hard to watch, but we must watch. Noel deserves it. As chilling as it is, we must watch.

The backdrop of the story makes the video all the more chilling. It is usual to hear stories of officer involved shootings that allege that the suspect was armed with a gun. In some of those cases, it turns out that the suspect did have a gun. In some cases, it was a toy gun that the officer claimed not being distinguishable from a real gun. In some cases, the officer was at risk. In other cases, no gun was found. In some cases, a cell phone or keys were mistaken for guns.

There are cases where officers or rent-a-cops mistook their guns for tazers. And then, there are cases where officers were simply angry, and used their weapon.

So much death. So many unnecessary deaths.

In this case, one deputy shot his partner, and blamed it on Noel, who was then executed by the wounded officer.